Bicolor Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius bicolor (Day 1888)


Other Names: Bicolor Blenny, Bicolour Blenny, Two-colour Comb-tooth, Two-colour Combtooth Blenny

A Bicolor Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius bicolor, at the wreck of the HMAS Brisbase, Queensland, January 2020. Source: Nigel Marsh / iNaturalist.org. License: CC By Attribution-NonCommercial

Summary:
A combtooth blenny with four colour forms: 1) greyish to bluish anteriorly and yellowish-orange on the rear half of the body, 2) brown to blackish above, greyish below, with a broad white midlateral stripe, 3) greyish-brown with a yellowish head, 4) overall dark greyish-brown - with a curved pinkish to orange band behind the lower rear of the eye.

Cite this page as:
Bray, D.J. 2020, Ecsenius bicolor in Fishes of Australia, accessed 29 Mar 2024, https://fishesofaustralia.net.au/Home/species/1903

Bicolor Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius bicolor (Day 1888)

More Info


Distribution

Shark Bay region, Western Australia, to Ashmore Reef and Cartier Reef, Timor Sea, offshore reefs and islands of the Northern Territory, and the far northern Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, to at least the Solitary Islands, New South Wales; also at Lord Howe Island in the Tasman Sea, and Cocos (Keeling) Islands and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean. Elsewhere the species is widespread and common in the Indo-west Pacific: Maldives, Myanmar, Andaman Islands, Indonesia east to Phoenix Islands and Samoa, north to Ryukyu Islands, south to northern Australia, northern New Zealand and the Kermadec Islands.

Inhabits clear lagoon and seaward reefs with mixed corals and algae-covered rocks. The Bicolor Combtooth Blenny is often seen resting on top of coral heads, or sheltering in empty worm tubes. 

Feeding

Mostly detritivores - feed by combing small particles of organic matter from turf algae on the top of coral bommies.

Biology

Oviparous. females lay demersal, adhesive eggs that are attached to the substrate via a filamentous, adhesive pad or pedestal. The larvae are planktonic, often in coastal waters.

Similar Species

Although the similar Ecsenius springeri (described from the Fakfak region of the Bird’s Head Seascape of western New Guinea, West Papua Province, Indonesia) resembles the striped variety of Ecsenius bicolor, it consistently differs from E. bicolor in having a narrower black mid-lateral stripe that ends more anteriorly, a more distinct white stripe along the mid-side of the body; a more extensive orange area on the posterior half of the body, and either lacks a pinkish-to-orange diagonal band behind the eye or, if present, it is very faint.

Species Citation

Salarias bicolor Day, 1888, Suppl. Fish. India: 798. Type locality: Saddle Island, off Kyoukphyoo, Arakan, Burma.

Author

Bray, D.J. 2020

Resources

Atlas of Living Australia

Bicolor Combtooth Blenny, Ecsenius bicolor (Day 1888)

References


Allen, G.R. & Erdmann, M.V. 2012. Reef fishes of the East Indies. Perth : Tropical Reef Research 3 vols, 1260 pp.

Allen, G.R., Erdmann, M.V. & Liu, S.Y.V. 2019. Ecsenius springeri, a new microendemic species of blenny (Teleostei: Blennidae) from the Fakfak Peninsula, West Papua, Indonesia. Journal of the Ocean Science Foundation 32: 68–78. doi: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.2634454, open access

Allen, G.R. & Smith-Vaniz, W.F. 1994. Fishes of Cocos (Keeling) Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 412: 1-21.

Allen, G.R. & Steene, R.C. 1988. Fishes of Christmas Island Indian Ocean. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 197 pp.

Allen, G.R., Steene, R.C. & Orchard, M. 2007. Fishes of Christmas Island. Christmas Island : Christmas Island Natural History Association 2 edn, 284 pp.

Allen, G.R. & Swainston, R. 1988. The Marine Fishes of North-Western Australia. A field guide for anglers and divers. Perth, WA : Western Australian Museum vi 201 pp., 70 pls.

Day, F. 1888. Supplement to the Fishes of India. London : Williams & Norgate 779-816 pp., 7 figs. See ref at BHL

Johnson, J.W. 2010. Fishes of the Moreton Bay Marine Park and adjacent continental shelf waters, Queensland, Australia. pp. 299-353 in Davie, P.J.F. & Phillips, J.A. Proceedings of the Thirteenth International Marine Biological Workshop, The Marine Fauna and Flora of Moreton Bay. Memoirs of the Queensland Museum 54(3)

Kuiter, R.H. 1992. Tropical Reef-Fishes of the Western Pacific, Indonesia and Adjacent Waters. Jakarta : PT Gramedia Pustaka Utama 314 pp. pls.

Kuiter, R.H. 1996. Guide to Sea Fishes of Australia. A comprehensive reference for divers and fishermen. Sydney, NSW, Australia : New Holland Publishers xvii, 434 pp.

Larson, H.K., Williams, R.S. & Hammer, M.P. 2013. An annotated checklist of the fishes of the Northern Territory, Australia. Zootaxa 3696(1): 1-293

McKinney, J.F. & Springer, V.G. 1976. Four new species of the fish genus Ecsenius with notes on other species of the genus (Blenniidae: Salariini). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 236: 1-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.236, open access

Myers, R.F. 1999. Micronesian Reef Fishes. A comprehensive guide to the coral reef fishes of Micronesia. Guam : Coral Graphics vi 330 pp. 192 pls.

Randall, J.E. 2005. Reef and shore fishes of the South Pacific. New Caledonia to Tahiti and the Pitcairn Islands. Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press 707 pp.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1990. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 507 pp. figs.

Randall, J.E., Allen, G.R. & Steene, R. 1997. Fishes of the Great Barrier Reef and Coral Sea. Bathurst : Crawford House Press 557 pp. figs.

Regan, C.T. 1909. A collection of fishes made by Dr. C. W. Andrews, F.R.S., at Christmas Island. Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London 1909 (pt 2) (art. 3): 403-406, Pls. 65-66. (described as Ecsenius melanosoma See ref at BHL

Springer, V.G. 1971. Revision of the fish genus Ecsenius (Blenniidae, Blenniinae, Salariini). Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 72: 1-74 figs 1-36 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.72, open access

Springer, V.G. 1988. The Indo-Pacific Blenniid fish genus Ecsenius. Smithsonian Contributions to Zoology 465: 1-134 figs 1-68 pls 1-14 DOI: https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810282.465, open access

Springer, V.G. & Randall, J.E. 1999. Ecsenius polystictus, new species of blenniid fish from Mentawai Islands, Indonesia, with notes on other species of Ecsenius. Revue Française d'Aquariologie Herpetologie 26(1-2): 39-48.  

Townsend, K.A. & Tibbetts., I.R. 2000. Biomass and distribution of herbivorous blennies in the southern Great Barrier Reef. Journal of Fish Biology 56: 774-791. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1095-8649.2000.tb00871.x

Watson, W. 2009. Larval development in blennies. pp. 309-350. In Patzner, R.A., E.J. Gonçalves, P.A. Hastings & Kapoor, B.G.  (eds) The biology of blennies. Science Publishers, Enfield, NH, USA. 482 pp.

Williams, J.T. 2014. Ecsenius bicolor. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species 2014: e.T48342385A48359946. http://dx.doi.org/10.2305/IUCN.UK.2014-3.RLTS.T48342385A48359946.en. Downloaded on 11 June 2019.

Wilson, S.K. 2000. Trophic status and feeding selectivity of blennies (Blenniidae: Salariini). Marine Biology 136: 431-437. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s002270050

Wilson, S.K. 2001. Multiscale habitat associations of detrivorous blennies (Blenniidae: Salariini). Coral Reefs 20: 245-251

Quick Facts


CAAB Code:37408022

Conservation:IUCN Least Concern

Depth:1-25 m

Fishing:Aquarium fish

Habitat:Reef associated

Max Size:11 cm TL

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CAAB distribution map